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Normandy
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<p>Normandy is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical <a href="/facts/Duchy_of_Normandy/Lx3Y0H7P">Duchy of Normandy</a>. </p><p>Normandy comprises <a href="/facts/Normandy_(administrative_region)/AFrWe3QP">mainland Normandy</a> (a part of France) and insular Normandy (mostly the British <a href="/facts/Channel_Islands/JWuJ3Ups">Channel Islands</a>). It covers 30,627 square kilometres (11,825 sq mi). Its population in 2017 was 3,499,280. The inhabitants of Normandy are known as <a href="/facts/Normans/nUclGJWf">Normans</a>; the region is the historic homeland of the <a href="/facts/Norman_language/13RATD7c">Norman language</a>. Large settlements include <a href="/facts/Rouen/o4noeA7S">Rouen</a>, <a href="/facts/Caen/nacGkhQF">Caen</a>, <a href="/facts/Le_Havre/VHwdcG61">Le Havre</a> and <a href="/facts/Cherbourg-en-Cotentin/45qyTgh0">Cherbourg</a>. </p><p>The cultural region of Normandy is roughly similar to the historical Duchy of Normandy, which includes small areas now part of the departments of <a href="/facts/Mayenne/oFV4khCT">Mayenne</a> and <a href="/facts/Sarthe/I04JRyTg">Sarthe</a>. The Channel Islands (French: <i>Îles Anglo-Normandes</i>) are also historically part of Normandy; they cover 194 square kilometres (75 sq mi) and comprise two <a href="/facts/Bailiwick/sNquLYLw">bailiwicks</a>: <a href="/facts/Bailiwick_of_Guernsey/PwKg43uI">Guernsey</a> and <a href="/facts/Jersey/3lBLWgpg">Jersey</a>, which are British Crown Dependencies. </p><p>Normandy's name comes from the settlement of the territory by <a href="/facts/Viking/d0WFeQ6f">Vikings</a> ("<a href="/facts/Norsemen/sXH813Vv">Northmen</a>") starting in the 9th century, and confirmed by treaty in the 10th century between King <a href="/facts/Charles_the_Simple/NDmSwVNN">Charles III of France</a> and the Viking <i><a href="/facts/Earl/xPzkx4yT">jarl</a></i> <a href="/facts/Rollo/VSC2gQyH">Rollo</a>. For almost 150 years following the <a href="/facts/Norman_conquest_of_England/z8AShyvl">Norman conquest of England</a> in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by having the same person reign as both <a href="/facts/Duke_of_Normandy/PAbHRy4M">Duke of Normandy</a> and <a href="/facts/King_of_England/qpow970E">King of England</a>. </p>